Book 3, Prologue
Alaysa, Lady of the Lightfire, carried a deadly burden. Every day, her body died a little more. Her Healer, Janek could not help her. She carried a weight only a god could carry: the whole Lightfire.
Alaysa had led her Chosen into the depths of Mount Destare to free her brother, Andrew, thought to have died during her journey to the Darsinnian’s keep, my mother, Princess Laurel, and my father, Prince Lexon. At that time, she too carried the complete Lightfire but tainted with the desperate souls of the past Ladies. She had discovered the terrible secret of the Faberians, the giants that had been gifted with the ability to hold and cherish the Lightfire from the dying Ladies over the past 1000 years. They carried more than just the Lightfire. They carried the trapped the souls of the dead Ladies. The giants had not been allowed to release the Lightfires by their god, Vega, the goddess of vengeance, and sister to Saiven. She had become obsessed with the resurrection of her sister. She knew the power all six Lightfires held and she did not trust Darsis, the god who loved Saiven, to complete the rescue.
Vega had grown impatient. She knew Alaysa would take the five pedalmas, the pieces of plate that Lord Zaren had used to trap Saiven’s soul, away with her to Mount Destare, Lord Zaren’s home. But Vega also knew that Alaysa was the last piece. Vega needed her Lightfire and she had to kill Alaysa to get it. The Land saved Alaysa. Her Lightfire blew the top off the mountain, killing the giants’ priestesses and freeing the Ladies and their Lightfires. The Land called upon its ancient sea creatures. Without their help, Alaysa would not have been able to bear the Lightfires and escape the island.
While on the island, Kir, the Honoured Doctor-Messenger had made a fateful discovery. One of the rules of the curse of the Lightfire stated that the bond between the Lady and the Healer went one way. If the Lady died, then the Healer would die immediately, but if the Healer died, his death would not affect the Lady. She could choose another priest to become her Healer. Kir had discovered that the bond went two ways. Whatever physical injury happened to Alaysa, also happened to Janek, and whatever injury happened to Janek, happened to the Lady. Because their bonding had been by accident and without the controlling spells of the Darsinnians, Alaysa and Janek had been tied together for life. If Janek died, too, then Alaysa would die.
This is why I hate this day, this day of celebration. This is the day, so few years ago, that both Lady Alaysa and Healer Janek died. Here. At the palace. In front of me, my parents, the few remaining of her Chosen and her Lightfire Guards. None of us saw it coming. Darsis came out of nowhere. He had the fever that the Ancient Ones had used during the war to fight the gods. In his delirium, he did not know what he was about to do. And he took her from us. From me.
Alaysa had given up so much for us and for my kingdom. She had fulfilled her promise to the Ancient One, Maer, the dragon. I think Alaysa knew that to heal the land she had to first accomplish the task Maer would give her. And it was not an easy task. She did succeed at it, but at a high cost to herself. She became exiled from both my kingdom and their kingdom. Even the gods had forsaken her.
I refuse to forget her. And as long as I live, I will not let anyone else forget her.
“You’re not going.”
“I have to go.”
“No, you don’t. How many times…?”
“I have to go. You know I do.” Alaysa stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest, her feet slightly apart to keep her balance on the rolling deck of the Traveler.
A group of men sat on the deck or leaned against its railings. One of the men stood in front of her, his hands on his hips, matching her stance. He still wore the robe of the Darsinnian priests but had cut it short at his thighs so that he could wear pants for warmth and freer movement. Strands of long brown hair had escaped their tie and flew into his bloodshot eyes.
“No, you don’t,” he waved his arms in the air, “We need you to start healing the land. She can wait.”
Alaysa sighed and looked to her right. Kir, her Doctor-Messenger, two years younger than she, intently studied the laces on his boots. He didn’t want to get involved in their argument. He had taken on a great responsibility after his teacher and mentor had been killed at the Keep defending Alaysa a few months back. If she had only moved a little quicker, the older priest would still be alive today. Kir had to keep both she and Janek, her Healer, healthy. He found more comfort in his books than he did in a debate. His thick black hair had grown almost into his eyes and nearly touched his shoulders. He refused to meet her eyes. She knew he would not help her unless he absolutely had to. The youngest of her Chosen, he did not have the confidence to speak up.
Eric sat beside him, absently twisting a knife he had stuck into the ship’s deck. He watched them both, a slight smile on his face. He seemed to enjoy when Alaysa and Janek argued. They had become too much alike since the bonding and their battle of wills always made for an enjoyable encounter. But he would not interfere either, Alaysa realized. His job as Captain of her Lightfire Guard was to keep her and Janek alive. At moments like this, she wondered if his job also meant to keep them from killing each other. He brushed his curly, orange hair from out of his eyes so he could better see them. Three years older than Alaysa, he had inherited his position when his father had died protecting Alaysa. She wondered if he still blamed her for his father’s death.
Leaning against the railing overlooking the ocean, Prince Lexon and his wife, Princess Laurel watched. His face, shocked and her’s, concerned. Lexon had never seen Janek and Alaysa fight with such intensity before and she could see the reaction on his face to see his brother fight with someone who could kill anyone else with a touch. Lexon, still weak from his ordeal at having to share his body with Lord Zaren, absently hung onto his wife’s hand for strength and comfort. Zaren had taken Laurel back to his cave when he had stolen Lexon’s body and imprisoned her in the golden crystal. Alaysa was supposed to have married the prince because of tradition and politics but when she had been kidnapped two days before the wedding day, Laurel had to pretend to be Alaysa and marry the prince instead.
Laurel, even though she had hated Alaysa at first, because she would never get the chance to marry her love, the prince, had grown to respect the girl from the mountains as Alaysa called herself. Laurel had grown up in the palace with Janek, then called Janek, and Lexon so she had known the two of them as younger brothers. Janek, the Emperor’s illegitimate son, had been taken away to live in the Darsinnian Keep for the rest of his life. She had not seen him, again, until he had arrived as the Lady’s Healer.
Laurel, like everyone else, had grown to admire this young girl from the mountains. Alaysa had taken on the three grueling tests of the Lightfire and survived. Alaysa was only thirteen years old, five years younger than she and Lexon, two years younger than Janek. Yet she stood in front of them all, making a decision greater than even Lexon, the future emperor, would ever have to make. She glanced at her husband. His blonde hair nearly matched the shade of her own. She had tied her hair beneath a kerchief and made him wear a hat so as not to catch a chill. Zaren had refused to sufficiently feed Lexon’s body, so until they returned to the palace at Christentown, Laurel had to keep Lexon’s undernourished body from becoming ill. It would be too weak to fight any virus and she had to keep him from dying.
Alaysa looked past Laurel’s shoulder to the lower deck. The giant, Luindad, from an island called Faber had distanced himself from her group. He sat at the opposite end of the ship on a pile of rolled rope, writing in his journal. No one trusted him anymore, but she felt deep down she still needed him. His people had stolen the souls of the past Ladies of the Lightfire and kept them for their own purposes. Alaysa had destroyed his home. Now all he had was his work. His people had been the official record keepers of the Ladies and he stubbornly refused to give up that position. Even now, she knew he listened in on their conversation.
Stretched out beside the giant, a dragon lay asleep. Tay had come to stay with her while at the emperor’s palace. He was one of many dragons from the Ancient One’s hatching. She wasn’t sure why he had been sent other than to accompany her, but she had a feeling she would find out soon.
Lastly, on her left, stood her oldest brother, Andrew. He had accompanied her when she had been taken from her home to test the Lightfire but had only made it a few miles when Lord Zaren’s dead soldiers had attacked them. She had been forced to leave him, the priest Darvek and Sir Thomas, Eric’s father, behind as she had been shoved through a travel hole directly into the Darsinnian Keep and to safety. She had believed Andrew had died a few moments later. Now, he leaned against the railing, his face blank. He had had a lot to catch up on and rarely joined in any of the conversations. She knew he would be watching and learning. He would speak up when he felt it important enough to voice his opinion. Andrew had dark brown hair like the rest of her family. She had been the only one with dark red hair, almost black, but it had never been enough of a difference to make her wonder if she shared the same blood with her family.
When she had explained to him about the Emperor’s belief that she was the first born child of King Stefan, the founder of Christentown and all the lands surrounding and his first wife, Alaysa, he had not believed her. How could a god bring forward nearly a thousand years a child who would save the Land, he had said. Alaysa told him Darsis had never denied it. Even Zaren had agreed that it had happened. Her own parents had told her as much, saying that she had been brought to them as a child when Andrew was only a few years old. Andrew had remembered her arrival but thought that was how babies came. Then he had begun to believe and he said something that made her heart melt.
“No matter if you are my sister by birth or not,” he had held her hands and looked directly into her eyes, “You will be my sister forever.”
Now, she looked at him and wondered if she had changed in his eyes. She wanted his support, but he remained stubbornly silent. She turned to the man who stood in front of her. Janek, her Healer. He had been tricked into bonding with her. They guessed that Darsis had diverted the travel hole so that she arrived in the library where only Janek would be and not in one of the other rooms at the Darsinnian Keep where more priests would be waiting and would know what to do with her. She did not know only Darvek could make travel holes. When Janek could not reopen the travel hole so the others could be saved, her fury made her strike out at him. He caught her fist in his hand and at that moment, the transfer between Lady and Healer began and finished.
They shared each other’s memories and thoughts from that moment on. He could feel when she was emotionally and physically distressed. The Lightfire blocked out his emotions from her, but it did not block out physical injury. If either one hurt themselves, the other felt it. If she cut her finger, he bled. If he broke an ankle, she limped until he healed. Janek’s job was to heal her wounds but now it became more complicated. The Lightfire guards had to guard Janek from injury more than they had to watch over Alaysa.
“I will not break my promise to the Ancient One,” Alaysa said, “I have to go. She called me and I have to do as she bids. Besides, she said she will help me.”
To gain safe passage through the Ancient One’s forest, Alaysa had to promise to come when the dragon, Maer, beckoned her and to do as she bid. Lord Zaren’s shadow bird had been following herself, Andrew, Darvek and Sir Jackson. She had seen no other way through the forest without Maer’s help. Wild creatures, part man, mostly animal had taken over the lands once populated by the dragons. They killed for food. They killed anything or anyone to satisfy their hunger. Alaysa knew this from the stories she had been told. Unfortunately, two of her companions would be dead within the day. That she could not have known.
But when Maer had called to her, the dragon had also told her in an urgent voice that Alaysa must come so that she could help her. Alaysa carried more than her intended share of the god’s Lightfire. Saiven had given her all the Lightfire when she had saved Alaysa’s life. The Lightfire when used gave the bearer great power and a feeling of a god’s invincibility, but it also gnawed at the human side. It slowly destroyed the flesh, blood and bone of the mortal body. Alaysa would be dead within a year if she did not find a way to control the damaging effects of the Lightfire.
“We can help you,” Janek looked at Kir, “He’ll find a way to block the power of the Lightfire. Then you can start…”
She held up her hand. “Janek, there’s nothing to argue about anymore. If I don’t go, then who knows what will happen? We may need Maer’s support in the coming days and months when I do start the healing.” Alaysa glanced at the prince. She knew his kingdom had dwindled in the last few centuries as the plague had killed his kingdom. Very few people lived within its borders. “I am running short of allies.”
“What could be so horrible that the dragon would ask of the Lady?” Lexon spoke up. “She needs Alaysa to heal the land as much as the rest of us do. I wouldn’t believe the stories of other people dying because their tasks were so horrendous.”
“That’s what makes me concerned,” Janek said, “We don’t know what Maer will ask of Alaysa. I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
“Alaysa, what do you feel?” Laurel asked.
Alaysa glanced at her, grateful. “I don’t know how long I can hold the Lightfire within me.” She held out her hands. They trembled slightly. She clutched her hands into fists. The trembling stopped. “She has offered to help. I can see no other way. I have to go.” She looked into Janek’s eyes. “We have to go.”
“That I don’t understand either,” he said, his shoulders drooping. “She insisted I come but that the others shouldn’t?”
“She said you must come, but that if any others came, not all would return,” Alaysa said, glancing to the lower deck where her Lightfire guards sat dozing on the larger deck.
“We’ve survived far worse than a walk in a forest,” Eric spoke up, “Only a direct order would keep us from accompanying you.”
“Then it’s settled,” Lexon said, “We’re going.”
“You’re not strong enough,” Laurel tugged on his hand.
“I can sit on a horse,” he said, “I’ll eat like a horse as soon as we get back. I’ll be ready. You though should stay with father. You’ll be safe there…”
“What…?” Laurel released his hand and turned to face him, her face suddenly red. “What sort of nonsense is that?”
Janek and Alaysa looked at each other. His stern face faded and he smiled. She smiled back at him, then covered her mouth hiding her laughter.
“Nothing, but you are my wife and you should…”
“Don’t you dare tell me what I should and should not do,” Laurel said, pulling her face in close to her husband. “Alaysa needs me more than she needs you. What can you offer her that the others haven’t already?”
“I…I…” he glanced around helplessly. His eyes focused on Janek.
Janek raised his hands and stepped back to the railing beside Andrew. “Brother, you are on your own.”
Eric leaned over to Kir, “Do you want to take a bet on who wins this one?”
Kir shook his head, “No contest. Maybe we should bet how long it takes for her to throw him overboard?”
“I heard that!” Lexon cried out, then he too held up his hands in surrender. “All right Laurel you can come.”
“I don’t need your permission,” the princess said, leaning back against the railing beside Lexon.
“How am I supposed to run a kingdom if I can’t get anyone to obey me?” Lexon said, dropping his head.
Laurel whispered a few words in his ear and he blushed. They giggled, their argument forgotten.
Alaysa, suddenly weary, sat down where she had originally chosen before Janek had insisted on their discussion. Eric leaned away so she could place her back against a sack of sails as she sat down slightly behind him. She leaned her head back, letting the sun warm her face. All the rest of her body remained clothed. In close quarters like on the ship, she had to keep all of her skin covered. If anyone accidentally brushed her skin, they would receive a severe shock that could kill them. She hadn’t killed anyone yet. The one person she had touched, her healer-to-be Darvik, she had put into a coma. But that had been with only her share of the Lightfire. She now carried five times more than what she should. She didn’t know how powerful it could be if she released it.
The Lightfire sat as a dull ache in her stomach. She knew emotions like anger or grief could bring it to life. She struggled to maintain an emotional calm but if any of her friends were ever threatened, she felt the emotions taking over before she could stop them. It was her weakness. She cared. She cared too much for her friends and her family. It had almost caused her death.
Zaren had sent her a vision of the massacre of her guards and Chosen in the narrow tunnels of Mount Destare while she slept. She knew if she didn’t come ahead on her own that he would send his dead soldiers to kill them all. She believed him and left her friends. Unknown to her, the god Darsis also knew of the vision. He kept her friends asleep for nearly two days, the length of time she needed to find her way slowly to Zaren’s cavern.
There she found Laurel and Andrew as she had seen them in a dream, encased in the golden crystals. Zaren had released them and then left Lexon’s body to enter her body. All he ever wanted was her Lightfire and she gave it to him, willingly. She needed him to take her body. The other five Lightfire Ladies waited inside. Zaren didn’t have a chance. They controlled him as soon as he entered. Alaysa found the final pedalma. Darsis took the Lightfires from Alaysa and forced Zaren to leave her body. He then released Saiven from her thousand-year-old prison.
Alaysa, without the Lightfire, could not live. She and Janek began to die. Saiven knew this. Darsis refused to give up his love. Saiven chose death and gave Alaysa back the Lightfires. Darsis left with Zaren trapped in one of his servant’s bodies. Darsis did not return. He had abandoned them. The gods would no longer help them.
“Land!” a sailor called out from high up on a mast.
Alaysa opened her eyes. In the distance she could see the shoreline of Christentown. Emperor Coutous waited for them. She had promised to bring back both his sons alive. Now, she had to tell him she had to leave again. The man did care for her as a daughter. He would not want her to go. She may actually have to disobey him. And then, she wondered, how many of her Chosen would follow her? And Lexon, would he disobey his father? Or would his sense of duty prevail?